Winter Storm on the Way; Spring Still M.I.A.

Yet more winter weather is in store for Winnipeg as we remain stuck on the cold side of the jet stream while the main storm track through the Northern Plains of the United States becomes more active. While weather will remain relatively benign through today and tomorrow, things will become more active on Sunday and persist through much of next week.

Friday and Saturday

Friday

2°C / -9°C
Chance of scattered flurries this morning. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud.

We’ll see the chance of some scattered flurries through the Red River Valley this morning as a weak trough hangs back into Southern Manitoba from the low pressure system walloping Southern Ontario. Any snow that falls will be light and non-accumulating. Through the day the skies will break up a bit and we’ll end up under a mix of sun and clouds with a high near 2°C here in the city and closer to -1 or 0°C elsewhere in the Red River Valley. Tonight we’ll see partly cloud skies with temperatures dropping to around -8 or -9°.

Saturday

4°C / -7°C
Mostly sunny.

On Saturday, we’ll see fairly sunny skies with the warmest temperatures we’ve seen in a while1 as our daytime high rockets all the way to a balmy 3 or 4°C! Winds will remain relatively light out of the northeast throughout the day. Clouds will begin to move in through the overnight period in advance of the next weather system as we drop to around -7 or -8°C.

Sunday into Monday

Sunday

3°C / -4°C
Cloudy. Slight chance of showers or flurries in the afternoon. Snow beginning overnight.

Here comes winter. A major storm system will push out of Wyoming through South Dakota on Saturday night and into central North Dakota through the day on Sunday. Convection will fire up to the east of the low which will supply moisture that will wrap northwards and westwards through an area of strong lift on the north side of the low. This area of precipitation will push northwards through N. Dakota into Southern Manitoba pushing northwards to Winnipeg by Sunday evening. Light snow will begin overnight as winds strengthen out of the north.

GDPS 12hr. precipitation forecast with surface pressure.

GDPS 12hr. precipitation forecast with surface pressure.

By Monday morning the low pressure system is forecast to be near Lake-of-the-Woods with a strong pressure gradient situated over the Red River Valley. Snow will be wrapping around the back side of this system into the valley while strong northerly winds of 40-50km/h help blow it around. Temperatures will, fortunately, be near the freezing mark, but with the strong winds and damp air it will feel quite cool.

The system should leave the region overnight Monday with a cool, benign weather pattern settling in once again.


  1. It’s rather depressing that +3°C can possibly be the warmest temperatures we’ve had in a while when it’s mid-April. 

Brad

Brad lives in Winnipeg with his wife and two children and is the founder of A Weather Moment. He has loved weather from a very young age and has followed that passion through his life so far. He received a B.Sc. in Earth Sciences with Specialization in Atmospheric Sciences and is currently employed in the field of meteorology. You can find the author as WeatherInThePeg on Mastodon.

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